The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-09-15

tho Greeks.
THE HAMPToSs, Sept. 11.-The Rev.
Or. T. De Witt Talmage's text today
was from Romans xii, 13: ''Given to
hospitality" and his discourse as fol-
lows:
There is danger that the multiplica-
ton of large and commodious hotels III
our towns and cities and villages will
utterly eXterminate that grace which
Abraham exhibited when he entertained
the angels, and which Lot showed when
he watched for guests at the gate of the
Guy, and which Christ recognized as
positive requisite for entering heaven
when he declared: 81 was a stranger and
ye took me in
propose to speak this morning of the
trials and rewards of christian hospital
ity. The first trial often comes in the
whim and eccentricity of the guest him.
self. There are great many excellent
people who have protuberances of dis
position and sharp edges of temperament,
and unplability of character, which
make them positive nuisance in any
house where they stay. On short ac-
quaintance they will begin to command
bitS IlOuScfOIu dlItiIS, OTtieT tue tIllpiOySS
to unusual service, keep unreasonable
hours, use narcotics in places offensive to
sensitive nostrils, put their feet at I'M
usual elevations, drop the ashes of their
Havana on costly tapestry, open bureaus
they ought never to touch and pry into
things they ought never to see, and be-
come impervious to rousing bells,
aud have all the peculiarities of the
Pormandizer or the dyspeptic, and make
excavations from poor dentistry with
unusual implements, and in a thousand
ways affiict the household which proposes
t. take care of them. Added to all, they
stay too long. They have no idea when
their welcome is worn out and they
would be unmoved even by the blessing
which my friend Gerrit Smith, the phil
anthrOpist, asked one morning at his
breakfast table, on the day when he hoped
that the long prOtracted guests would de-
part, saying: 80 Lord, bless this provision
and our friends who leave us today"
But, my friends, there are alleviations to
be put on their side of the scale. Perhaps
fhey have not had the same refining in
huences about them in early life that you
have had. Perhaps they have inherited
eGcentricities that they cannot help
Perhaps 1t is your duty, by example, to
show them better way. Perhaps they
are sent to be trial for the development
of your patience. Perhaps they were to
be intended as an illustration of the OPP
posite of what you are trying to inculcate
in the minds of your children. Perhaps
ii is to make your home the brighter when
they are gone. When our guests are
CHEEKY and fascinating and elegant it is
very easy to entertain them; but when
we find IN our guests that which is an
tagonistic to our taste and sentiment, it is
Il positive triumph when we can obey che
words of my text, and be given to
hospitality"
Another trial in the using of this grace
il in the toll and expense of exercising it.
In the well regulated household things go
smoothly, but now you have introduced
a foreign element into the machinery,
and though you may stoutly declare that
they must take things as they find them.
the Martha will break in. The ungov-
rrnable stove: the ruined dessert, the
joint that proves TO be unmasticable; the
delayed marketing; the perplexities of
caterer; the difficulty of doing proper
work, and yet always being presentable.
Though you may say there shall be no
care or anxiety, there will be care and
there will be anxiety. In 1894 the cap
tain general provided a very grand en-
tertainment, and among other things
he had fountain i'll his garden-a
fountain of strong drink. In it were
four hogslieads of brandy, eight hogs
Leads of water, $4,000 lemons, thirteen
Lundredweight of Lisbon sugar, five
pounds of grated nutmeg. 800 toasted
biscuit, and a boat built on purpose was
placed in the fountain and boy rowed
aEound il and filed the cups of the peo
ple who came there to be supplied Well,
YOU say, that was luxurious entertain
dnent, and of course the man had no
rnxiety, but / have to tell you that,
though YOU had or propose an entertain
ident like that, you have anxiety. In
that very thing comes the divine re-
ward. We were born to serve, and when
we serve Others, we serve God. The flush
on that woman s cheek, as she bends over
the hot stove, is as sacred IN Gods sight
as the flush on the cheek of one who, on
Il hot day, breaches the Gospel. We may
serve God with plate, and cutlery, and
Jroom. as certainly as we can serve him
viii psalm book and liturgy. Margaret
lueeri of Norway, and Sweden. and Den
mark, had a royal cup of ten lips. on
which We're recorded the names of the
cuests who had drunk from this cup.
and every Christian woman has a royal
cup, on which are written all the names
of those who have ever been entertained
Ly her in Christian style-names not cut
by human ingenuity, but written by the
hand of divine Jesus. But. my friends,
lou are not 10 toll unnecessarily. Though
the fare be plain. cheerful presidency OF
Vne table. and cleanliness of appointments
~ be good enough for anybody that
,,.o,. . ones 10 your house. John Howard
,.,os ;,,,,;. VI to the house of a nobieman,
TTo so;d. ..I ~S5n come on one condition,
md that i tb;,,% you have nothing but
,,nta+oos ON the IN de TIE requisition
ms comnliad with. Cyrus, king OF
Persia. under the same circumstances
prescribed that on the table uSsis iilest We
nothing but bread. OF course, u'fsae Weie
extremes, but they are illustrate" y" " VIZ
lact that more depends upon the ban,4' '"e'.
urs than upon the banquet. wa"
10 lift this idea of Christian entertain
ment out of a positive bondage INTO
q glorious inducement. Every effort
YOU put forth, and every dollar you
live to the entertainment of friend or foe,
YOU give directly to Christ. Suppose II
were announced that the Lord Jesus
Christ would come to this place this week,
what woman in this house would not be
glad to wash for him, or spread for him
n led, or bake bread for himP There
yas one of old who washed for him
drawing the water from the well of hel
own tears. He is coming. He will b'
here tomorrow. "Inasmuch as We hav'
done it to one of the least Of these, m,
brethren, We have done it TO me-" Ii
picture galleries we have often seel
representations of Walter Scott and hi
friends. or Washington Irving with hi
associates; but all those engravings wi
r., lie out. while through everlasting ages
Ion, ing luminous and conspicuous, wi
he the pictures of you and your Christia
Yon see we have passed out from til
trials into the rewards of Christian ho'
pitaIity; grand, glorious and eterna n.
The first reward o,s Christian hospital.
is the divine benedictSon: when any on
attends to this duty, Gt NJ blessing COM